Shirt collar fastening means



Feb. 23, 1965 N. WISE 3,170,165

SHIRT COLLAR FASTENING MEANS Filed Dec, 18, 1962 2;: .1 "1-. "'15 I 25 27. a; 26 f INVENTOR @u? NATHAN 116.55 M ,fldfi z/QM Miter/2W5 SHIRT COLLAR FASTENING MEANS Nathau Wise, 10998 StrathmoreDrive, Los Angeles, Calif.

Filed Dec. 18, 1962, Ser. No. 245,470 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-116) This invention relates generally to shirts, and more particularly to a new and improved shirt collar construction embodying hidden fastening means for maintaining the collar points closely adjacent the shirt front while simultaneously allowing sufficient free play to provide an undistorted, neat and attractive collar at all times and under widely variant conditions of 'use. 7

Most shirts today either embody attachedlsoft collars or are adapted to be worn with detachable soft or semi soft collars. In both cases, there is a definite'tendency for the collar points'to lift away from the shirt front and thereby present an unsightly appearance.

To overcome the aforedescri bed difficulty, a number of means have been devised. for anchoring the collar points to constrain the points against movement away from the shirt front. devices as stays, tapes, collar pins, press studs, and the very popular button-down collar wherein buttons on the shirt front pass through buttonholes in the collar points.

Unfortunately, the various means heretofore provided for securing the points of shirt collars tothe shirt front, and holding the collar smoothly in place, have each suffered from one or more deficiencies limiting their application. For example, many collar fastening means remain clearly in view when in use, and may even present an unsightly appearance in and of themselvesQthlis rendering such fastening expedients less acceptable, especially for more formal attire. Moreover, most fastening means, while holding the collar points against the shirt front, fail to provide enough play in the collar opening for accommodating different sizes of necktie knots without distorting the collar. tempt to provide the necessary play or elasticity for this purpose, e.g., tapes extending from the shirt front to the collar, invariably also must compromise in the degree to which the collar points are held closely adjacent the shirt front.

Additional difficulties encounteredwith collar point fastening means have included the complexity and expense of installation'upon the shirt, the tendency. for portions of the fastening means to become dislodged from the shirt, and possibly lost, as in laundering, as Well as the tendency for more rigid fastening means attached to the collar to leave impressions in the shirt collar when the shirt is ironed.

Accordingly, it is van object of the present invention to provide a new and improved shirt collar construction embodying collar point fastening means which overcome the above and 'otherdisadvantagesiof the prior art.

Another object isthe provision of an improved shirt collar construction capable of holding the collar points down adjacent the shirtfront andavoidingcollar distortion over a wide range of dilferentnecktie knot sizes. f-

A further object of this invention to provide a shirt collar construction embodying new and improved hidden These means have included such Those fastening means which ata 3,170,165 Fatented Feb. 23, 1965 The above and other objects and advantages of this 3 invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings of illustrative embodiments thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a shirt embodying the collar construction and fastening means of .the present invention, one of the collar wings being 33 of FIGURE 2, and illustrates one manner in which; the fastening means may be incorporated into the collar;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the underside of a collar point, and illustrates an alternative arrangement for incorporating the fastening means into fastening means for anchoring the collar points to the shirt front, while permitting relatively large movement of remaining portions of the collar wings away'from the shirt front Without distortion of the collar. I

Still another object is the provision of a new and'improved collar construction embodying simple. and inexpen'sively installed fastening means formaintaining the collar points closely adjacent the shirt front and presenting an undistorted and attractive appearance with a variety of necktie knots of different size and shape.

the collar construction;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view, taken along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

Briefly, and in general terms, the collar construction of the present invention involves the provision of a pocket means upon the underside ofeach collar wing, near the collar point, each pocket means having a buttonhole therein which is in alignment with a button carried by the shirt under the collar wing. The configuration of the pocket, and orientation of the buttonhole with respect to the collar wing and cape of the collar, is such that the collar point is held close to the shirt front. On the other hand, those portions of the collar wing further removed from the collar point are capable of assuming a wide range ofpositions spaced away from the shirt front, to accommodate various necktie knot sizes and shapes, without altering the smooth, undistorted appearance of the collar. i V

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG- URES 1-3 thereof, the shirt 10 comprises a main body 11 and a collar 12. The main body 11 of the shirt includes the usual pair of shirt front panels 13, 14 which may be fastened together to close the shirt bymeans of a conventional row of buttons 14 carried upon one panel and' adapted to passthrough a corresponding row of'bu'ttonholes in the other panel.

The collar 12 includes ,a cape portion 17 and a pair of wings 19 extending downwardly from the cape across the shirt front panels 13, 14. Each of the collar wings permanently attached to the shirt 10, it is to be under-' stood that this is by Way of example only, and the collar maybe of the detachable type without in any way depart-' ing from 'the, spirit and scope of the present invention.

As will be apparent fron1,FIGURE 3, the basic construction of the collarwings 19 is conventional and comprises superposed upper andlowerfabric layers or plies 22, .23 stitched togetheralong their edges by a pair of stitching rows 25. A layer 24, of any appropriate collar lining material, may be sandwiched between the plies 22,

v 23 prior to stitching, if it is desired to impart additional stiffness to the collar.

As best observed in FIGURES 1 andr2, 'a triangular the piece'furthest removed from the collar point is left un stitched, so that anopen-ended pocket 27 is provided I between the piece of cloth 26 and the lower fabric layer 23 at the underside of the collar (see FIGURE 3). The piece of cloth as may be installed when the collar is assembled, in which case the stitching rows 25 may be used to secure the piece 2r: as well as the layers 22-24. Alternatively, the piece 26, or, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, a similarly shaped piece of cloth 29 may be subsequently installed upon the underside of the collar wing 19 by separate stitching 31 which secures the piece to the lower fabric layer 23.

Of primary importance in installing the piece of cloth 26 or 29, as the case may be, is that the narrow end of the pocket be near the collar point 26) and the wide end of the pocket be directed towards the cape portion 17 of the collar 12. The wide open end of the pocket 27 provides more play for enabling movement of the collar Wing 19 away from the shirt front than does the narrow end of the pocket. Hence, in moving along the pocket 27, away from the collar point 29, the amount of free play provided by the pocket progressively increases. Also, ready access to the buttonhole 33 is provided by this arrangement.

Disposed centrally in each piece of cloth 26, 29 is a buttonhole 33 having its longer dimension positioned generally along a line bisecting the angle formed by the edges of the collar wing 19. Each buttonhole 33 is in alignment with a button 35 sewn upon the shirt front panels 13, 14 respectively. In this regard, the alignment between each buttonhole 33 and its associated button 35 is such that the button will initially be located at the top of the buttonhole as seen in FIGURE 1, so that the collar wing 19 is free to move vertically upward a distance approximately equal to the length of the buttonhole 33.

When the collar 12 is used with a rather large necktie knot, the collar wings 19 and points 20 have a normal tendency to move upward and outward away from the shirt front. However, by virtue of the orientation of the buttonhole 33 and the configuration of the pocket 27 upon the underside of each collar wing, both the collar wing and the collar points are free to move vertically along the buttonhole 33, and portions of the collar further away from the collar points are able to move outwardly as well, so that the collar 12 remains undistorted by a large tie knot. The collar points 29, however, remain closely adjacent the shirt front panels 13, 14, since each button 35 is adjacent the narrow end of its respective button pocket and, therefore, less play is available for movement of the collar points away from the shirt front.

It will be apparent that the fastening means embodied by the collar construction of the present invention is completely hidden from view when the collar points 20 are buttoned down adjacent the shirt front and, hence, the fastening means present no unsightly appearance. It will also be apparent that the pocket 27 greatly facilitates insertion of the button 35 through its respective buttonhole 33, since the piece of cloth 26, 29 carrying the buttonhole is easily separated from the underside of the collar wing 19.

In addition to the foregoing advantages the fastening means of this invention are simply and inexpensively installed upon the collar 12. Moreover, in ironing the shirt 10,,there are no rigid members within the collar 12 which might leave an uns-lightly impression upon the collar.

It is to be understood that, while particular forms of my invention have been illustrated and described, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. For example, the shape of the pocket forming fabric piece 25, 29 may be varied, or may be stitched to the collar in modified fashion. Moreover, the collar construction of my invention is suitable for use with other garments such as blouses, jackets and the like. Accordingly, I do not intend that my invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A shirt comprising:

a main body having a shirt front portion;

a collar mounted upon said main body, said collar having a cape and a pair of collar wings extending from said cape and overlying said shirt front portion, each of said collar wings tapering to a collar point;

a generally triangular piece of cloth sewn to the underside of each collar Wing near the point thereof, each piece of cloth and its respective collar wing forming a pocket having an open end directed towards the cape of said collar, and each pocket becoming progressively wider in proceeding from the collar point along the wing towards the cape;

a pair of elongated buttonholes, one in each of said triangular pieces of cloth, the longer dimension of each buttonhole extending towards said cape on a line generally bisecting the angle formed by the edges of its respective collar wing;

and a pair of buttons sewn upon said shirt front portion in alignment with the portions of said buttonholes nearer said cape.

2. A shirt comprising:

a main body having a shirt front portion;

a collar mounted upon said main body, said collar having-a cape and a pair of collar wings extending from said cape and overlying said shirt front portion, each of said collar wings tapering to a collar point;

a generally triangular piece of cloth sewn to the underside of each collar wing near the point thereof, each piece of cloth and its respective collar wing forming a pocket having an open end directed towards the cape of said collar, and each pocket becoming progressively wider in proceeding from the collar point along the wing towards the cape;

a pair of elongated buttonholes, one in each of said triangular pieces of cloth, the'longer dimension of each buttonhole extending towards said cape along a line substantially in the direction of movement of its respective collar wing in the vertical plane along said shirt front portion;

and a pair of buttons sewn upon said shirt front portion in alignment with the portions of said buttonholes nearer said cape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,606,920 Bornstein Nov. 16, 1926 1,792,369 Goldberg Feb. 10, 1931 1,845,884 Marinsky Feb. 16, 1932 1,892,430 Friedman Dec. 27, 1932 2,599,421 Wilm June 3, 1952 2,669,295 Garrido Feb. 9, 1954- 

1. A SHIRT COMPRISING: A MAIN BODY HAVING A SHIRT FRONT PORTION; A COLLAR MOUNTED UPON SAID MAIN BODY, SAID COLLAR HAVING A CAPE AND A PAIR OF COLLAR WINDG EXTENDING FROM SAID CAPE AND EXTENDING SAID SHIRT FRONT PORTION, EACH OF SAID COLLAR WINGS TAPERING TO A COLLAR POINT; A GENERALLY TRIANGULAR OF CLOTH SEWN TO THE UNDERSIDE OF EACH COLLAR WING NEAR THE POINT THEREOF, EACH PIECE OF CLOTH AND ITS RESPECTIVE COLLAR WING FORMING A POCKET HAVING AN OPEN END DIRECTED TOWARDS THE CAPE OF SAID COLLAR, AND EACH POCKET BECOMING PROGRESSIVELY WIDER IN PROCEEDING FROM THE COLLAR POINT ALONG THE WIND TOWARD THE CAPE; A PAIR OF ELONGATED BUTTONHOLES, ONE IN EACH OF SAID TRIANGULAR PIECES OF CLOTH, THE LONGER DIMENSION OF EACH BUTTONHOLE EXTENDING TOWARDS SAID CAPE ON A LINE GENEALLY BISECTING THE ANGLE FORMED BY THE EDGES OF ITS RESPECTIVE COLLAR WING; AND A PAIR OF BUTTONS SEWN UPON SAID SHIRT FRONT PORTION IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE PORTIONS OF SAID BUTTONHOLES NEARER SAID CAPE. 